Laminated fabric



Patented Aug. 29, 1939 PATENT OFFICE LAIVHNATED FABRIC Gustave Klinkenstein, Maplewood, N. J assignor to Maas 3; Waldstein Company, Newark, N. J., a. corporation of New Jersey No Drawing. Application November 16, 1937, Serial No. 174,803

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and useful thermoplastic adhesive stiffening composition, the article produced by its application as a coating to a base fabric, and the laminated fabrics united with such adhesive.

There have been many suggestions heretofore for compositions that would adhesively unite a plurality of layers whether of flexible or inflexible material and especially in the art directed to w the adherence of sheets of cloth. All of these proposed adhesives had one or more limitations which prevented their satisfying the needs in the art. This has been particularly true in that art directed to the preparation of stiffened garment parts.

In many garments it is desirable to stiffen certain portions of them to improve their appearance and customarily the stiffened appearance was obtained by starching those portions of the at? garment during laundering operations. Since the starch was subject to attack by water either of laundering or' perspiration, the starch was repeatedly removed and had to be applied each time the garment was washed. When worn, perspira- 25 tion reaching the stiifened portions, wet the starch and destroyed the stiffening effect.

It was early proposed to replace the starch with a more permanent type of stiffening agent and among these suggestions was the application of a coating comprising a cellulose ester to at least one of the layers of cloth at the areas to be stiffened. It was found, however, that although the coating of cellulose ester would produce the desired stifiening it was not of a type comparable $5 to that obtained with-properly applied starch and, in fact, was in many instances too stiff. In some cases, it was so stiff that stitching of the garment parts was impossible or, alternatively, after stitching it wasimpossible to properly fold'along 40 predetermined fold lines. To overcome this difliculty it had been suggested that limited areas be leitfree of the cellulose derivative coating.

As the principal source of wear is at the folded portion and since this was not stiffened, the ulti- 45 mate effect of the partial stiffening was not satisfactory. In commercial practice, the adhesive cellulose ester was frequently applied to an inner lining which in turn was adhered to a face ply and oftentimes toan under ply. For commercial 50 production, the coated inner linings were first sewed into the proper part of the garment and attempts were made to adhere the layers by the application of heat and pressure. An alternative method involved the use of an inner lining hav- 55 ing threads of a cellulose ester interwoven with cotton threads. As the cellulose ester threads were not thermoplastic, the garment part when finally sewed was moistened with a solvent, for the cellulose ester and while softened from the effect thereof, heat and pressure was applied to unite 5 the several layers. The use of a solvent by the garment makers has involved a great deal of difficulty and added expense but has been endured because none of the known thermoplastic adhesives gave a satisfactory appearance and a sub- 10 stantially permanent bond of adherence.

The art has also developed commercial processes in which the coated interlining contains a plasticized cellulose ester which has some degree of thermoplasticity. With this type of interliner, when the garment is completed the normal ironing operation adhesively unites the several layers. In the art as heretofore practiced on this type of stifiened fabric, the bond of adhesion originally and after wear or laundering was not satisfactory. In some cases, while a reasonably satisfactory original bond could be obtained, one or more washings resulted in a separation of the layers and a loss of the thermoplastic property of the adhesive so that readherence could not be obtained. Various types of cellulose ester compositions with known plasticizers were employed but none had been found which satisfies all of the commercial requirements of such products.

I have found that a thermoplastic cellulose ester adhesive composition for use in arts of the type above described can be obtained when cellulose acetate is combined with substantially an equal amount of the ethyl derivative of alkyl phthalyl alkyl glycolate as a plasticizer. The ingredients are dissolved in suitable solvents for application as a thin film to one or both sides of a fabric to be adhered to any suitable base. The addition of modifying ingredients such as gums, resins, etc. may be desirable under some circumstances but is usually unnecessary.

To produce this composition, approximately thirty-two ounces of cellulose acetate is dissolved in about one gallon of a solvent therefor such as, for example, acetone with or without higher boiling solvents exemplified by ethyl methyl ketone and methyl ether of ethylene glycol, in which is incorporated the ethyl phthalyl ethyl glycolate. The ratio of the plasticizer to the cellulose acetate may be varied within reasonable limits but I have found that when theplasticizer is less than about one-half of the-amount of cellulose acetate, the original adhesion and also the adhesion after the boiltest, hereinafter described, is not satisfactory. However, from that proportion until the plasticizer is present in 'an amount almost equaling twice the cellulose acetate, the adhesion originally and after the boil test is always satisfactory. Equal amounts or a slight excess of plasticizer is usually best. Greater proportions of plasticizer than about twp to one result in the applied coating running into the surface sheet, when heat and pressure is applied, instead of remaining between the layers of fabric as the adhesive. When the adhesive is taken up by the surface sheet and appears on the surface, it alters the appearance and is not generally suitable in a garmentconstruction, therefore, the plasticizer must be within the range of one half theamount of cellulose acetate to .twice the amount.

With this composition dissolved in acetone or other solvent or solvent mixtures in the proportion of about thirty-two ounces of cellulose'acetate per gallon, it can be readily applied to inner lining fabrics, backing fabrics or textile sheets.

The exact concentration in the solvent can be varied depending upon the character of the coating machines employed, which may be of the roller type, doctor blade type, etc., the viscosity of the cellulose acetate and other factors known to. those skilled in the art. After the adhesive has been applied to the fabric, the solvent rapidly evaporates and the cloth can be rolled into rolls which will not block, i. e., adhere one layer to another under normal conditions of storage and shipment. This, too, was a problem with prior art adhesives.

The, coated fabric, generally coated on both sides, may be stacked into layers and cut up into designs or interlinings without blocking, as many as fifty to seventy-five layers being cut by a die at a single stroke. Each of the cut inter linings is assembled in the usual manner and when the completed garment is ironed, adherence of the outer or face plies with the coated inner linings and the under plies, if any, is obtained. The garment part having the inner lining adhered has all of the appearance of a starched article but is not as stiff or uncomfortable to the wearer. When employing the composition herein described, the garment may be relaundered indefinitely without separation of the plies and if any separation does occur, the thermoplastic property of the composition permits readherence in the normal ironing of the garment.

This thermoplastic adhesive will withstand repeated and extended exposure to boiling water or to alkaline laundry waters without any substantial deterioration in its properties during the life of the garment.

It will thus be seen that this invention provides a new and useful thermoplastic adhesive composition for joining layers of textile fabric which maintains its original properties throughout the life of the textile despite repeated laun'ldering and ironing operations. Also provided by this invention is a coated fabric that can be readily stored, transported and worked up into interlining without blocking and While maintaining the desired properties.

Furthermore, the invention provides laminated textile fabrics particularly in garment constructions which produce a starched effect with no starch content.

While this invention has been described with reference to {certain preferred embodiments thereof, this description is intended to be illustrative of the invention and not in limitation thereof, the scope being set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An adhesive solution for use in articles subjected to laundering comprising essentially one part of cellulose acetate with from one-half to two parts of ethyl phthalyl ethyl glycolate dissolved in a solvent therefor.

2. An adhesive solution for use in articles subjected to laundering comprising essentially one part of cellulose acetate with a substantially equal amount of ethyl phthalyl ethyl glycolatc dissolved in a solvent therefor.

3. A textile fabric for use in articles subjected to laundering coated on at least one side with a thermoplastic adhesive stiffening composition comprising essentially cellulose acetate with from one-half to two parts of ethyl phthalyl ethyl glycolate.

4. A textile fabric for use in articles subjected to laundering coated on-at least one side with a thermoplastic adhesive stiffening composition comprising essentially cellulose acetate and a substantially equal amount of ethyl phthalyl ethyl glycolate.

5. A laminated fabric for use in articles' subjected to laundering comprising a plurality of layers of textilamaterial joined with a thermoplastic adhesive stiffening composition compris ing essentially one part of cellulose acetate and from one-half to two parts of ethyl phthalyl ethyl glycolate.

6. A laminated fabric for use in articles subjected to laundering comprising a plurality of layers of textile material joined with a thermoplastic adhesive stiffening composition comprising essentially cellulose acetate and a substan tially equal amount of ethyl phthalyl ethyl glycolate. Q

- GUSTAVE .KLINKENSTEIN. 

